Welcome. As this is the inaugural post to the Selkie blog, I guess I should try to explain who I am and what this business and blog are going to be about. The photos that follow to keep you entertained through my rambling monologue are of me building my first board, lala, in my apartment kitchen. I'm Matt, I'm a 20-something who is overly proud to be from magnificent Portland, OR, and am the shaper and founder/owner of Selkie. Environmental responsibility and a strong DIY culture are inherent to the northwest and i grew up embracing both of these values, hiking and sailing from a young age and always helping with whatever crazy home improvement project my Dad and I could find an excuse to tackle. I have only been a true surfer for a few years and will be the first to admit I am no expert, but surfing has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. During my youth, family vacations were often taken to the paradise of Hawaii, where I first talked my way onto a local's surfboard at the age of 5 and later surfed the long rides of Waikiki and the harbor at Lahaina. I'm not sure exactly when, but probably when I was a teenager, I became fascinated with boat design and building and by extension surfboard shaping, spending countless hours haunting boatyards and surf shops simply staring down the shapes and running my hands over any fiberglass curves i could touch. The burgeoning environmental movement in surfing has been a big interest of mine and I have followed developments in bio-foam, recyclable blanks, hemp glassing, bamboo sheathing, surf-NGO's and now wooden boards in many forms. Being somewhat of a traditionalist, Tom Wegener's re-discovery of the Alaia struck a chord with me; my "want-to-build-it" brain said "I can do that," so I gave it a shot. Seeing as the board came out pretty well, I really enjoyed the project and my head just started exploding with ideas for eco-friendly products and surfboards, I formed a business and this blog to take a stab at being part of this attempt to improve our impact on the earth and find better ways to enjoy our environment. My goal for the business is that I may be able to expand from one product to making several types of more-sustainable surfcraft and recycled products. Plans are already in their infancy for Alaias with better float and ways to bring Alaia technology and green-ness to a lighter stand up paddleboard. My hope for the blog is that it may be a platform to distribute information on the Alaia, green surf tech, surf organizations making a difference, inspiring individuals and stories of note on travel and adventure both within and outside of my life and company. I am very open to hearing comments, feedback and arguments about my boards and any issues I bring up so please comment or email me with your thoughts. Thats all for now... away we go.
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